Which two significant European rivers formed most of the northern inland frontier of the Roman Empire?

100 degrees Celsius is how many degrees Fahrenheit?

What former president of a European country was charged in 2011 with misusing public funds while mayor of his country's capital city?

Which online music service announced in March 2011 achieving one million paying subscribers across Europe, of a total exceeding 10 million users?

Which British crime writer helped clean and preserve thousands of 3,000 year-old carved ivory pieces, found in the Assyrian capital of Nimrud, 1949-63, in excavations led by her then husband Sir Max Mallowen?

Mattel Inc closed its vast flagship retail store for what iconic product/brand in Shanghai, China, two years after its launch in 2009?

In which European city are the headquarters of the European Central Bank?

Which Jewish holiday is also known as the Day of Atonement?

The Tinikling, a dance using bamboo poles, is the (or a) main national dance of which 7,000-island nation?

The Hallé Orchestra, named after its Anglo-German founder (born Karl Halle) is based in which city?

What 1986 disaster caused pollution across Europe by the radioactive isotope caesium-137, which at least 25 years later still required livestock to be scanned on some UK upland farms?

The liqueur sambuca originates from which European country?

A stimpmeter measures the speed of a ball over what surface: Golf putting green; Football (soccer) pitch; Cricket outfield; or Pinball table?

Following a violent 'domestic incident', which European country did Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi want to abolish in 2009? (Bonus question - what is Colonel Gaddafi's first name? )

Name the excessively cheerful optimistic heroine created by American author Eleanor H Porter in the famous 1913 eponymously titled book, and subsequent series, which became a term for someone of such attitude?

The Scoville Scale is used to measure the heat of what?

The Japanese musical instrument the shamisen (or samisen or sangen) has traditionally how many strings (the answer, in Japanese and the earlier Chinese, is in the name): One; Three; Twelve; or Twenty-four?

Eutrophication is the addition of natural or artificial nutrients to what, causing plant growth?

The poems (English titles) The Prisoner of the Caucasus (1821), The Bronze Horseman (1833) and the play Boris Godunov (published 1831) were written by which Russian writer: Nabokov; Dostoyevsky; Pushkin; or Solzhenitsyn?

Alberto Grando, who died in 2011 aged 88, was whose motorcycle companion in the 1950s?

The initials of French company LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods business, stand for what three famous brands? (Bonus point - which Italian jeweller and watchmaker did LVMH announce it would acquire in 2011? )

Anosmia is the lack of which of the senses in humans?

Which is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas?

Strangely derived from Latin meaning ship, relating to maritime/direction, what is the central area of a church called?

Which US president in office 1945-53, is said to have coined the phrase 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen' ?

The 'cardinal points' are the four main points on what?

Which long-standing cartoon characters made their debut in 'Puss Gets The Boot' in February 1940, called originally Jasper and Jinx?

General Knowledge Answers (140)

What is Uganda's staple crop, of which each adult consumes over three-times bodyweight annually? Bananas

The mummified ancient man, thought killed by an arrow 5,300 years ago, is known as '(who?).. the Iceman' ? Otzi (correctly Ötzi the Iceman, pronounced Oetzi - also called Similaun Man or Man from Hauslabjoch, found Sept 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, near Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy, named after he Ötztal (Ötz valley), in the Italian Alps. As at 2011, Europe's oldest human mummy, displayed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.)

Which two significant European rivers formed most of the northern inland frontier of the Roman Empire? Rhine and Danube

100 degrees Celsius is how many degrees Fahrenheit? 212

What former president of a European country was charged in 2011 with misusing public funds while mayor of his country's capital city? Jacques Chirac (France)

Which online music service announced in March 2011 achieving one million paying subscribers across Europe, of a total exceeding 10 million users? Spotify

Which British crime writer helped clean and preserve thousands of 3,000 year-old carved ivory pieces, found in the Assyrian capital of Nimrud, 1949-63, in excavations led by her then husband Sir Max Mallowen? Dame Agatha Christie

Mattel Inc closed its vast flagship retail store for what iconic product/brand in Shanghai, China, two years after its launch in 2009? Barbie (Barbie doll)

In which European city are the headquarters of the European Central Bank? Frankfurt(Germany)

Which Jewish holiday is also known as the Day of Atonement? Yom Kippur

The Tinikling, a dance using bamboo poles, is the (or a) main national dance of which 7,000-island nation? Philippines (fully, Republic of the Philippines)

The Hallé Orchestra, named after its Anglo-German founder (born Karl Halle) is based in which city? Manchester (England, founded 1858, by pianist/conductor Sir Charles Hallé, 1819-95 - he changed his name after settling in England in 1848.)

What 1986 disaster caused pollution across Europe by the radioactive isotope caesium-137, which at least 25 years later still required livestock to be scanned on some UK upland farms? Chernobyl (the name of the nuclear reactor site, disaster, and town, now in Ukraine)

The liqueur sambuca originates from which European country? Italy (the claimed/suggested origins of the word sambuca are too many and varied to list here - the OED says it's from Latin, sambucus, elder tree, but there are several other different and equally logical explanations)

A stimpmeter measures the speed of a ball over what surface: Golf putting green; Football (soccer) pitch; Cricket outfield; or Pinball table? Golf putting green (designed in 1935 by US golfer Edward Stimpson Sr)

Following a violent 'domestic incident', which European country did Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi want to abolish in 2009? Switzerland (Swiss authorities did not give Gaddafi's son diplomatic immunity after beating his wife. Bonus question - what is Colonel Gaddafi's first name? Muammar)

Name the excessively cheerful optimistic heroine created by American author Eleanor H Porter in the famous 1913 eponymously titled book, and subsequent series, which became a term for someone of such attitude? Pollyanna

The Scoville Scale is used to measure the heat of what? Chili peppers (or other spellings, chilli, chile, chille, chilie, etc)

The Japanese musical instrument the shamisen (or samisen or sangen) has traditionally how many strings (the answer, in Japanese and the earlier Chinese, is in the name): One; Three; Twelve; or Twenty-four? Three (in Chinese, san means three, hsien means string)

Eutrophication is the addition of natural or artificial nutrients to what, causing plant growth? Water (from Greek eu, well, and trephein, nourish - notably the term eutrophication refers to over-supply of nutrients to lakes etc, causing algae bloom, characterized by a strong green colour and imbalanced wildlife, notably a depletion of certain species, and glut of others)

The poems (English titles) The Prisoner of the Caucasus (1821), The Bronze Horseman (1833) and the play Boris Godunov (published 1831) were written by which Russian writer: Nabokov; Dostoyevsky; Pushkin; or Solzhenitsyn? Pushkin (Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin,1799-1837)

Alberto Grando, who died in 2011 aged 88, was whose motorcycle companion in the 1950s? Che Guevara (Ernesto Che Guevara)

The initials of French company LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods business, stand for what three famous brands? Louis Vuitton, Moet, Hennessy (Bonus point - which Italian jeweller and watchmaker did LVMH announce it would acquire in 2011? Bulgari)

Anosmia is the lack of which of the senses in humans? Smell (Greek osme means smell)

Which is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas? Brazil

Strangely derived from Latin meaning ship, relating to maritime/direction, what is the central area of a church called? Nave (from navis, ship, related to terms such as navigate and navy)

The 'cardinal points' are the four main points on what? Compass (i.e., North, South, East, West)

Which long-standing cartoon characters made their debut in 'Puss Gets The Boot' in February 1940, called originally Jasper and Jinx? Tom and Jerry (the Tom and Jerry names were adopted later in 1941 - the cat Jasper became Tom; the mouse Jinx became Jerry)

Last modified: Tuesday, 9 October 2018, 3:43 PM

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